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Verstappen sweeps Austria, extends championship lead

By
Andrew Kim
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The recent momentum and domination for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing continued in Spielberg, Austria, after the 23-year-old Dutchman scored his fifth Grand Prix victory of the season in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the ninth Grand Prix event of the 2021 Formula One season, as he also completed a two-race season sweep at the circuit.

Verstappen, who started on pole position for the fourth time this season, dominated the second Austrian Grand Prix event of the season as he led all 71 laps, a similar feat he made when he won last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. With a huge advantage over the field, he even made a pit stop with 10 laps remaining for four fresh tyres, which allowed him to pull away from runner-up finisher Valtteri Bottas and establish the fastest lap of the event before claiming the checkered flag.

With his 15th career victory in Formula One, third in a row in recent weeks after winning the French and Styrian Grand Prix events, Verstappen extended his lead in the drivers’ championship standings to 32 over Sir Lewis Hamilton.

“Yeah, it was really, really good today,” Verstappen said. “I expected it to be good, but not this good. Really, really happy with how the whole race went. You don’t get these races often. You have to take it and enjoy it. When you feel good in the car, you have a good balance and [the crew does] not mention your lap times, which is exactly what you want, and that’s why we could extend our gap like this.”

“[Verstappen] was in a league of his own these last two weekends,” Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s team principal, said. “I think he’s pretty much led every single lap that we’ve done here. A phenomenal performance by him and the team, and extending both leads in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. I think [Verstappen]’s just taking things session by session, race by race. He’s not letting his concentration drift. We’ve had a phenomenal start, we’ve built some great momentum and we’ve got to carry that on, but there are some big races coming up.”

Behind Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas notched a strong runner-up result for his fifth podium result of the season while Lando Norris, who started on the front row, came home in third place for his third podium result of this season, fourth of his career and second in Austria. The podium result for Norris occurred after he rallied from a five-second penalty for forcing Sergio “Checo” Perez off the course and into the gravel.

“I think it was a strong race,” Bottas said. “Definitely, starting fifth and ending up second was the maximum today we could get. We need to keep working. We have two weeks to try and find more pace, but also, we have some upgrades planned for Silverstone, so hopefully, they will help. Hopefully, we can carry this good momentum. I just try to look ahead.”

“Whether or not, we can keep this up at every race track,” Norris said. “This is one of the tracks we’ve done well every single year, qualifying and the race. It’s always been one of our best circuits of the season, so I think the main thing is we don’t get too complacent and think this is where we are now because just last weekend, where we didn’t have two weeks to nail everything, the car wasn’t good enough, so yeah, we had a great day today and we’ve been fast all weekend, but I don’t expect to be like this every single weekend throughout the rest of the season. I think there’s gonna be much tougher again and not so much glory, so we’ll see.

Meanwhile, Sir Lewis Hamilton, fresh off a two-year contract extension with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, ended up in fourth place after slipping in the final laps due to sustaining aerodynamic damage from running over the curbs.

Behind, Sergio “Checo” Perez, coming off a podium result in France and a fourth-place result in Styria, finished in fifth. Perez, however, was hit with a pair of time penalties as a result of forcing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc off the course and into the gravel on two separate occasions. As a result, Carlos Sainz, who crossed the finish line in sixth, was promoted to fifth place while Perez was penalized to sixth place.

Daniel Ricciardo rallied from a 13th-place result last weekend during the Styrian Grand Prix to finish in seventh while Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-10 points-finishing positions.

George Russell, who was battling Alonso for the final points-finishing result, settled in 11th as he has yet to record the first points of the season for himself and the Williams Racing team. Rookie Yuki Tsunoda settled in 12th followed by Lance Stroll, Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicholas Latifi.

Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel ended up in 16th and 17th after both collided and wrecked on the final lap while Haas F1 drivers, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, settled in 18th and 19th.

Esteban Ocon ended his race in 20th, last place, following an opening lap incident with Giovinazzi and picking up damage to his Alpine machine.

Results:

1. Max Verstappen, 26 points, 71 laps led

2. Valtteri Bottas, 18 points

3. Lando Norris, 15 points

4. Lewis Hamilton, 12 points

5. Carlos Sainz, 10 points

6. Sergio Perez, eight points

7. Daniel Ricciardo, six points

8. Charles Leclerc, four points

9. Pierre Gasly, two points

10. Fernando Alonso, one point, +1 lap

11. George Russell, +1 lap

12. Yuki Tsunoda, +1 lap

13. Lance Stroll, +1 lap

14. Antonio Givinazzi, +1 lap

15. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

16. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

17. Sebastian Vettel – DNF

18. Mick Schumacher, +2 laps

19. Nikita Mazepin, +2 laps

20. Esteban Ocon – DNF

Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 32 points over Lewis Hamilton, 78 over teammate Sergio Perez, 81 over Lando Norris and 90 over Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull Racing continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 44 points over Mercedes, 145 over McLaren and 164 over Ferrari.

Next on the 2021 Formula One schedule is Silverstone Circuit for the British Grand Prix on Sunday, July 18.

CHEVY NCS AT ROAD AMERICA: William Byron Wins the Pole at Road America

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
ROAD AMERICA
JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250
PRESENTED BY KWIK TRIP
TEAM CHEVY POLE WINNER QUOTE/QUALIFYING RESULTS
JULY 4, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
2nd KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
3rd AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 HYPERICE CAMARO ZL1 1LE
4th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
8th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1 1LE
10th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

  1. William Byron (Chevrolet)
  2. Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
  3. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)
  4. Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)
  5. Austin Cindric (Ford)

NBC will telecast the Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip at Road America live today, July 4, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Pole Winner Quote

LISTENING TO HIS RADIO YESTERDAY AT THE BEGINNING OF PRACTICE, I DON’T THINK I WOULD HAVE PREDICTED THIS? WOULD YOU HAVE PREDICTED THIS BECAUSE I DON’T THINK YOU GUYS WERE IN THE BALLPARK OF A POLE YESTERDAY?
“Yeah, we struggled a little bit off the truck; but we had some good changes in mind and the No. 24 Liberty University Chevy was really fast in qualifying. We were fast in race trim in the last run and I feel like we just kind of went back to the basics on the road courses. We’ve struggled this year on the road courses and kind of got back to a basic setup and put it all together today.”
“Thank you to Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and the guys for working really hard. Awesome to see Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 and on the pole. Great horsepower and great speed, so hopefully we can keep it up there.”

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT COME INTO PLAY WITH DRIVERS STILL LEARNING THE RACETRACK. YOU’VE GOT FAST GUYS, LIKE YOUR TEAMMATE CHASE ELLIOTT, AND KYLE BUSCH STARTING IN THE BACK, AND ALL THE STRATEGIES THAT COME INTO PLAY. IS THIS SETTING UP TO BE AS CRAZY OF A RACE AS IT FEELS LIKE IT IS RIGHT NOW?
“Yes, I think for sure. I think you’ve got two guys that are the best here with AJ (Allmendinger) and (Austin) Cindric; they’re really good at Road America. And you’ve got the rest of us that are pretty good here, too. (Kyle) Larson has been extremely fast on the road courses and Chase (Elliott), obviously. We’re just going to have to fight all day long and see what happens.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ernie Francis Jr. fends off Labonte for SRX win at Lucas Oil Raceway

By
Briar Starr
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Photo Courtesy of SRX Racing Series

After multiple late-race cautions, 23-year-old Trans Am racing driver and young SRX standout, Ernie Francis Jr., fended off Bobby Labonte following a late restart.

Francis won over Labonte by 0.649 seconds to take home his first career Superstar Racing Experience victory.

“Me and Scott Speed went at it for a few laps there, side-to-side, and I didn’t know how that was going to end up. I ended up with a few donuts on the car, but man, couldn’t be happier with it, super incredible. I want to thank everybody from SRX, Ray Evernham and Tony Stewart for giving me this opportunity.”

“I was playing around with gearing trying to see what would work,” Francis said. “Second gear was spinning off of turn four as I tried to roll through third, and that last restart I got really sideways, but I stayed in it. I didn’t want to lift there. And I thought, man, when I saw that I cleared Labonte there – that was a good feeling knowing I just had to get through a few turns cleanly and I just ran my race and took it home. This is going to make that drive back to Road America a lot better.”

Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis was the fourth event on the SRX Racing Series schedule. As usual, there were two heat races that lasted 12 minutes each.

This week, “The Ringer” was former NASCAR star Scott Speed. Speed started on the pole and led all the laps to pick up the first heat race win. Tony Kanaan, Michael Waltrip, Tony Stewart and “Local All-Star” Bobby Santos III finished fifth in the heat.

When the field was inverted for heat 2, Willy T. Ribbs started up front with Paul Tracy alongside him. However, Ribbs and Tracy wouldn’t last long at the front as Castroneves took the lead on Lap 5. The 2021 Indy 500 winner went on to lead the rest of the way and take home his first heat race win in the SRX Series. Labonte, Stewart, Francis and Andretti were the top five. This was the first time in SRX history, there would be no on-track incidents during the first two heats.

Then came the main event which was a 76-lap feature with a unique twist added. Caution laps would count until there were six laps to go, although that would eventually change toward the end of the race.

Following the green flag, Francis took the lead on Lap 11 from Scott Speed going into Turn 1. Francis had the dominant car as the Davie, Florida native maintained the lead through three cautions on Lap 25, Lap 48 and Lap 66.

The field lined up for the restart with seven laps to go, but as soon Francis and the field got to the backstretch, Tony Kanaan went spinning around and flat-spotted his tires creating another caution with six laps to go.

With the restart at two laps to go, Francis once again was able to get the lead briefly before there was more contact behind him. Santos spun out Tracy on the backstretch while Indy 500 winner Castroneves retaliated against Scott Speed by spinning Speed around after Speed had gotten into Castroneves one lap earlier.

For the final time of the night, Francis had to hit his marks as he had racing veteran and 2000 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Bobby Labonte right beside him on the restart. Fortunately, Francis kept Labonte on the back bumper of his car and went on to claim the victory after numerous restarts.

“All night, my car was really good,” Labonte said. “I got a little too tight at the end, and then Scott and Ernie got together and I was having to decide whether to go high or go low. I thought they were going to wreck, and then I was three-wide. Scott was sideways, somewhere, and we might have touched, and I got by him. We ran well from there. He was always dogging me off the bottom of (turn) four and he always seemed to be right there on my left rear. And then, that last green-white-checkered when it was just me and Ernie, my car was just too tight and I didn’t want to get into him too hard – just needed to keep it together and bring it home.”

Speed was battling hard with Castroneves late in the going when he got turned around during the last yellow. Despite being turned, Speed rebounded to finish third on the podium.

“Man, we had such a good battle, me and Francis,” said Speed, who won the first heat race. “We were definitely the best two cars and we were playing cat-and-mouse with our tires, saving them. And then, with 10 to go, it was ‘game on.’ We were both going to charge and we had such an awesome side-by-side race. I just got a little bit too loose underneath him with a couple laps to go and fell back, lost a couple of spots. But it was a great race. I had so much fun.

“We came out of turn four and I got into Helio (Castroneves) a little bit. I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m having a good time here regardless of where I finish. But I’m happy for a guy like Ernie because for a kid like that, we’ve all had our careers in motor racing, but stuff like this can help him establish himself and that’s the big picture here.”

The SRX victory was big enough for Francis as it caught the attention of series sponsor Marcus Lemonis, who hinted at an opportunity for Francis in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride if Francis is interested.

Francis will now make the five-hour drive back to Road America for the Trans Am TA2 event at 8 a.m. CT.

Labonte, Speed, Marco Andretti and Santos rounded out the top five.

Official Results following the SRX Racing Series event at Lucas Oil Raceway:

  1. Ernie Francis Jr
  2. Bobby Labonte
  3. Scott Speed
  4. Marco Andretti
  5. Bobby Santos III
  6. Michael Waltrip
  7. Tony Stewart
  8. Paul Tracy
  9. Helio Castroneves
  10. Tony Kanaan
  11. Willy T. Ribbs
  12. Bill Elliott

Championship Points Standings

1.     Tony Stewart (160 points)

2.     Ernie Francis Jr. (130 points, -30)

3.     Helio Castroneves (120 points, -40)

4.     Bobby Labonte (115 points, -45)

5.     Marco Andretti (111 points, -49)

6.     Michael Waltrip (86 points, -74)

7.     Paul Tracy (83 points, -77)

8.     Tony Kanaan (65 points, -95)

9.     Bill Elliott (52 points, -108)

10.   Willy T. Ribbs (45 points, -115)

Up Next: The Superstar Racing Experience will continue their summer stretch by visiting Slinger Speedway Saturday night, July 17, live on CBS.

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report – Road America

By
Official Release
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The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report

Track: Road America
Race: Henry 180
Date: July 3, 2021

No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 2nd
Stage 1: 2nd
Stage 2: 8th
Finish: 8th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 45/45
Laps Led: 10
Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+89)

Notes:

  • Austin Cindric rebounded from a late-race incident to score an eighth-place finish in the Henry 180 Saturday afternoon at Road America. The driver of the No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford battled back to claim his 13th top-10 in 17 races this season. Cindric led 10 laps and was in contention for the victory until his Mustang was damaged following a restarted with eight laps to go. He remains the leader in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, 89 points ahead of second-place AJ Allmendinger.
  • Cindric qualified his Menards/Richmond Mustang second Saturday morning. He dropped back to fourth during the opening laps of the 45-lap event but soon the reigning Xfinity Series Champion worked his way back through traffic to score a second-place finish when Stage 1 ended on lap 10. Crew chief Brian Wilson kept his driver on the track during the stage caution, giving Cindric the lead on lap 11.
  • The race restarted on lap 12 and two laps later the third caution slowed the pace. Inside the No. 22 teams pit window, Wilson called the driver of the Menards/Richmond Mustang to pit road on lap 14 for a slight air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. Cindric restarted 28th but once again showed his road course skills, wasting no time getting back to the front. He raced back inside the top-10 and claimed an eighth-place finish when Stage 2 ended on lap 20.
  • Cindric restarted fourth on lap 22, 23 laps from the finish. He grabbed the lead on lap 24. The fifth caution on lap 28 brought the leaders to pit road. Wilson elected to pit, calling for four tires and fuel. Cindric restarted seventh on lap 29 and recaptured the top spot on lap 31. The sixth caution of the race on lap 36 which split the field on pit strategy. Wilson chose to pit, giving Cindric four tires and setting themselves up for the short run to the finish. The driver of the No. 22 Mustang restarted 10th with eight laps remaining but moments after the green flag waved misfortune struck. A car spun in front of Cindric and as traffic stacked up another car hit Cindric in the right-rear. The damage forced Cindric to pit for repairs. He restarted 27th with six laps to go. From there Cindric was able to rally back, charging his way through the field to collect an eighth-place finish.
  • Cindric will be back in action tomorrow at Road America behind the wheel of the No. 33 PIRTEK Ford Mustang. He will be making his sixth start of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season in the Jockey Made in America 250. Live race coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and MRN Radio.

Quote: “You can’t win ‘em all. Our guys brought a really fast Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang. Sometimes it works out for you and sometimes it doesn’t. Today it just wasn’t meant to be. If they gave out an award for cars passed, we would handily have that. I am not sure there is a corner on this car that doesn’t have damage. I appreciate the hard work by everybody. We had a decent points day, and we will move on.”

Monster Energy Racing: Riley Herbst Road America NXS Race Report

By
Official Release
-
The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

Herbst Finishes Seventh at Road America
Monster Energy Driver Secures Fifth Top-10 of Season

Date: July 3, 2021
Event: Henry 180 (Round 17 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (4.048-mile, 14-turn road course)
Format: 45 laps, broken into three stages (10 laps/10 laps/25 laps)
Start/Finish: 34th / 7th (Running, completed 45 of 45 laps)
Point Standing: 14th (373 points, 348 out of first)
Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)

Overview:

Despite a rough start to the race weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) persevered for a seventh-place finish in Saturday’s Henry 180. The No. 98 team was forced to start at the rear after switching to a backup car following a spin in Friday’s practice session. In an effort to save tires for the race, the team opted to only make one run during qualifying since it would have to start at the rear, regardless. When the green flag waved for today’s race, Herbst spared no time in his march forward. By lap five, the Las Vegas Native had broken into the top-20. When the caution flag waved with only four laps to go in Stage 1, the No. 98 Monster Energy crew kept its driver out on track to try and earn valuable stage points. The strategy paid off as Herbst finished the stage 10th. Herbst restarted the second stage 19th after making a pit stop for four tires and fuel. The 22-year-old driver once again made his way forward to end up 10th in the second stage. When the final stage got underway on lap 22, Herbst restarted eighth and broke into the top-five just one lap later. He continued to stay near the front until the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang was called to the pits under a lap-27 caution, in keeping with the team’s strategy. With one set of tires and plenty of racing to go, the team made the call on lap 35 to bring Herbst down pit road one final time for four fresh tires and to fill up on fuel. The Monster Energy driver’s seventh-place finish is his fifth top-10 of the season.

Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Yeah, we were definitely better than yesterday. It was cool coming from the back. I definitely feel like we had a top-five car, it just took a little too long getting through traffic there at the end and finishing seventh. We’ll take it, with a couple stage points, finishing in seventh place. All in all, it was a good day.”

Notes:

● Herbst finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point, and 10th in Stage 2 to earn an additional one bonus point.

● Kyle Busch won the Henry 180 to earn his 101st career victory, his fourth of the season and his first at Road America. His margin over second-place Daniel Hemric was 3.522 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 11 laps.

● Twenty-seven of the 36 drivers in the Henry 180 finished on the lead lap.

● Austin Cindric remains the championship leader after Road America with an 89-point advantage over second-place A.J. Allmendinger.

Next Up:

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Credit Karma Money 250 on Saturday, July 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Henry Repeating Arms Racing: Kevin Harvick Road America NXS Race Report

By
Official Release
-
The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

Harvick Finishes Sixth in Henry 180
Driver of Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang Maintains Top-10 Road-Course Streak

Date: July 3, 2021
Event: Henry 180 (Round 17 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (4.048-mile, 14-turn road course)
Format: 45 laps, broken into three stages (10 laps/10 laps/25 laps)
Start/Finish: 20th / 6th (Running, completed 45 of 45 laps)
Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)

Overview:

It was another NASCAR Xfinity Series race on a road course and another top-10 finish for Kevin Harvick. The driver of the No. 99 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang for B.J. McLeod Motorsports finished sixth in the Henry 180 Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. It preserved Harvick’s unblemished streak of top-10s on road courses in the Xfinity Series, as the two-time Xfinity Series champion has never finished worse than seventh in 13 career road-course starts. Saturday’s drive around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course roughly 60 miles north of Milwaukee was no walk in the park, despite Road America seemingly being located inside a state park. Harvick’s Ford Mustang was loose into the corners and tight in the middle of the turns. Yet despite starting 20th, he rose to as high as third for a lap-30 restart. Smart pit strategy, tenacious driving and the ability to keep his Henry Repeating Arms machine on track allowed Harvick to outlast many of his competitors to earn his 261st top-10 in 348 career Xfinity Series starts.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 99 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang:

“I was way off as far as racecraft and what I needed to do on the starts and restarts into turn one. I just was kind of going throughout the whole race not having a lot of help from the spotters stand just because you can’t really hear ‘em, so there was a lot of racecraft stuff that I was way off on. We got better as we went through the race. They did a good job on pit road and calling the race and probably should’ve finished third or fourth there, but I dinged it all up not getting a good restart there at the end.”

Notes:

● Kyle Busch won the Henry 180 to score his 101st career Xfinity Series victory, his fourth of the season and his first at Road America. His margin over second-place Daniel Hemric was 3.522 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 11 laps.

● Twenty-seven of the 36 drivers in the Henry 180 finished on the lead lap.

● Austin Cindric remains the championship leader after Road America with an 89-point advantage over second-place A.J. Allmendinger.

Next Up:

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Credit Karma Money 250 on Saturday, July 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Harvick’s next Xfinity Series race comes Aug. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Kyle Busch conquers Road America for 101st Xfinity Series win

By
Andrew Kim
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ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN - JULY 03: Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 M&M's Ice Cream Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 at Road America on July 03, 2021 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images).

The streak of different winners at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was extended to a 12th season as Kyle Busch rallied from an early spin to win the Henry 180 on Saturday, July 3, after leading the final five laps of the event. The victory also extended Busch’s winning streak in this year’s Xfinity Series season to four wins in four starts along with achieving his 101st series victory.

Qualifying occurred on Saturday, July 3, with rookie Ty Gibbs recording his first Xfinity career pole after logging a pole-winning lap at 107.532 mph. Joining him on the front row was Austin Cindric, winner of last weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway and the reigning Xfinity winner at Road America.

Prior to the event, Noah Gragson (engine change) and Riley Herbst (backup car) dropped to the rear of the field along with Brett Moffit, Natalie Decker and Ryan Ellis (unapproved adjustments).

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the entire field battled dead even entering the first turn until at the front, Gibbs was able to squeak ahead of Cindric and AJ Allmendinger through the Turn 2 straightaway and past the third right-hand turn. 

Through Turn 3, the Turn 4 straightaway and the fifth left-hand turn, Gibbs retained the lead while Allmendinger bolted his way into the runner-up spot over Cindric, who was in front of Daniel Hemric, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier and Jeb Burton. Behind, Kaz Grala went wide in Turn 5 after locking up his brakes.

From the left-hand Turn 5 through the right-hand Turn 14, the field settled in a competitive, single-file line with Gibbs still leading Allmendinger and Cindric.

When the entire field returned to the start/finish line following 14 turns, Gibbs led the first lap followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Busch and Hemric.

After leading the first two laps, Gibbs was overtaken by Allmendinger, a former winner at Road America.

On the fifth lap, the first caution of the event was displayed when Spencer Pumpelly, driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports, spun in Turn 14 following a bump from Brandon Brown and got stuck in the gravel trap.

Under caution, multiple names like Kyle Busch, Gibbs, Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Andy Lally, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg, Preston Pardus, Brett Moffitt, Myatt Snider, Josh Williams and Alex Labbe pitted for four fresh tires.

The race restarted on the eighth lap as Allmendinger retained the lead over Cindric, Jeb Burton, Haley, Gragson, Annett and the field through the first three turns. Then in Turn 3, Kyle Busch spun into the grass following contact from Allgaier, though he was able to continue without any serious damage. Not long after, Gibbs was assessed a penalty for changing lanes during the restart.

With the field continuing to battle for positioning around every turn, Allmendinger cruised to the first stage victory on Lap 10 as he claimed his fourth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Haley and Gragson. Gibbs crossed the start/finish line in sixth, but he was discredited from earning any stage points as a result of his restart violation. The move promoted Hemric to sixth followed by Allgaier, Annett, Josh Bilicki and Riley Herbst.

Under the stage break, most of the leaders led by Allmendinger pitted while others led by Cindric and Gragson remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 12 with Cindric and Gragson restarting on the front row. At the start, Cindric peaked ahead briefly, but Hemric made a move to the outside of Cindric’s No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang to take the lead through the first turn. Through the first three corners, the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand Turn 5, Hemric and his No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra remained out in front while the field jumbled up while battling for positioning.

Shortly after, the caution returned for a hard accident involving Sam Mayer and Preston Pardus. 

When the race restarted on Lap 15, Allgaier took over the top spot over Hemric, where he led the following two laps. Then, Allmendinger moved back to the front of the field.

With a series of battles occurring around the road course, Allmendinger, like he did in the first stage, was able to pull away and win the second stage on Lap 20, thus claiming his fifth stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Hemric, Haley, Busch, Jones, Gibbs, Cindric, Harrison Burton and Herbst. Moments before he crossed the start/finish line, Busch went off the track through the straightaway between Turns 11 and 12 as he kicked up dirt before continuing without serious damage.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted as Allgaier inherited the lead. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger was penalized due to his crew members jumping over the pit wall early, thus sending Allmendinger to the rear of the field.

With 23 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Kyle Busch restarted on the front row. At the start, Allgaier was able to prevail over Busch to remain as the leader. With the field fanning out through the first two turns, Allgaier led Busch through the first three turns, the Turn 4 straightaway, the left-hand turns in 5 and 6, a brief straightaway in Turns 7 and 8, a long right-hand turn in 9 and 10, a long straightaway from Turn 10 to 12 and a pair of turns in 13 and 14 before returning to the start/finish line. 

The following lap, Allgaier continued to lead, but he had Cindric closing in for the lead entering the first turn after Cindric overtook Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot. Then, through the second turn, Cindric made a move to the right of Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro. Following a side-by-side battle through the straightaway and under the Sargento bridge, Cindric returned to the lead.

With 20 laps remaining, Cindric was leading by more than four seconds over Gragson, with Allgaier being pressed by Busch and Gibbs for more. Haley was in sixth followed by Herbst, Hemric, Jones and Jeb Burton. 

A lap later, the caution returned for a harrowing accident involving Spencer Pumpelly, who lost his brakes entering the first turn, spun through the gravel trap and plowed into the tire barriers, where the rear end of his No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro ended up on top of the barriers. 

Under caution, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Brandon Jones, teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick, Josh Bilicki and Cody Ware remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon.

With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Jones retained the lead over teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick and the field through the first three turns, the Turn 3 and 4 straightaway and through the left-hand fifth turn.

The following lap and after navigating his way through the 14-turn circuit, Jones continued to lead followed by Harrison Burton and Cindric, who started to close in on Burton for more. After leading through the first four turns,, Jones locked up the brakes entering Turn 5 in front of Cindric, forcing Cindric to crossover to the left of Harrison Burton and Jones through the fifth turn. After going three wide with Burton and Jones, Cindric reassumed the lead entering the sixth turn.

With Cindric out in front, Harrison Burton remained in second place. A lap later, Allgaier and Gibbs moved up the leaderboard followed by Gragson while Jones slipped back to sixth. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in eighth in front of Allmendinger.

Then, through Turns 12 and 13, Gibbs moved up into second place followed by Allgaier and Gragson while Harrison Burton fell back to fifth. Behind, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger moved up to sixth and seventh.

A few laps later, Jeb Burton and Brandon Jones spun in Turn 14, but the race remained under green as both plummeted on the leaderboard.

With 11 laps remaining, Harrison Burton brought his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra to pit road for service. Shortly after, the caution returned when Gibbs, who was running in the runner-up spot, came to a stop under the Corvette bridge in Turn 6 following a transmission failure to his No. 81 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, an issue that eliminated him from race-winning contention.

Under caution, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track.

Down to the final eight laps, the race restarted under green as Gragson and Allmendinger started on the front row. At the start, Gragson jumped ahead with the lead followed by Kaulig Racing’s Haley and Allmendinger through the first turn. 

Then, the caution returned when Snider made contact with Harrison Burton, spun and made light contact with the wall through the Turn 2 straightaway. Snider’s incident resulted in ensuing chaos behind as Cody Ware, Kris Wright and Natalie Decker wrecked and knocked down a number of advertising billboards through the Turn 2 straight In the midst of the incident, Cindric and Allgaier sustained damage to their respective machines, forcing both to pit under caution.

With six laps remaining, the race restarted as Gragson and Haley started on the front row. At the start, Gragson received a bump from Allmendinger to retain the lead over Haley through the first three turns and through Turn 5. With Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro leading, Kyle Busch bolted his No. 54 M&M’s Ice Cream Toyota Supra into third place entering Turn 3 as he then challenged Allmendinger for the runner-up spot through Turns 5 and 6. 

Then in Turn 8, Allmendinger made his move beneath Gragson and made contact with Gragson before he moved his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro back into the lead followed by Busch. Gragson, meanwhile, fell back to third in front of Haley, Harrison Burton and the field. 

The following lap and with five laps remaining, Busch made his move beneath Allmendinger entering the first turn and made contact with Allmendinger, which gave Busch the advantage through the Turn 2 straightaway and Turn 3 to take the lead. From there, Busch started to pull away from the field.

When the field returned to the start/finish line, Busch was leading by nearly a second over Allmendinger, with Gragson, Michael Annett and Haley in the top five. Jones and Harrison Burton followed in pursuit along with Harvick, Hemric and Herbst. Way behind the leaders, a multi-car wreck occurred in Turn 12, involving Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki, Ryan Ellis and Brett Moffitt. Despite the incident and the damage, the race proceeded under green.

The following lap, Jones went off the track in Turn 1, but the race remained under green. By then, Busch extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

Down to the final two laps of the event, Busch remained out in front by more than two seconds over Allmendinger, who had Annett and Hemric closing in for the runner-up spot. Behind, Harrison Burton challenged Gragson for fifth place while Harvick was in seventh.

When the final lap of the event started, Busch was the leader by more than three seconds. Behind, Annett and Hemric were in second and third after both passed Allmendinger, who was struggling with grip, through Turns 13 and 14. Not long after, Hemric moved into the runner-up spot in Turn 3.

Back out in front, Busch continued to set sail with a comfortable advantage. With no pressure occurring in front of him and behind, Busch was able to navigate his way through the 14-turn circuit and climb up the road hill from Turn 14 to streak across the finish line and take the checkered flag for the win.

With his victory, Busch is four-for-four in this year’s Xfinity Series season as he claimed his first triumph at Road America and extended his all-time lead in Xfinity Series victories to 101. He also recorded the first Xfinity win for crew chief Mark McFarland, with McFarland and Joe Gibbs Racing’s ARCA team assisting Busch’s efforts to the Xfinity win.

With his Xfinity Series plans for the future uncertain now that he has achieved 100+ victories, Busch is scheduled to run his fifth and final series event of the season next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“Obviously, tires, that was the saving grace for us,” Busch said on NBC. “We had tires left over. [Allmendinger] didn’t. When we came in to put them tires on, I wasn’t sure we were gonna be able to get through that many cars, but man, I don’t know what happened the last couple restarts. Just melee at the start going down the straight. I couldn’t see what was happening. Then, there was a wreck between [Turns] 2 and 3, and was just fortunate to be on the right side in order to get by that stuff and get through that stuff without too much damage to our race car. Obviously, it was neat to have the opportunity to run this race today, get ready for tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow will look a lot like this day.”

Hemric settled in the runner-up spot for the ninth time in his Xfinity Series career while Annett picked up his first top-five result of the season with a strong third-place effort.

Allmendinger, who was aiming to become the first repeat winner in the Xfinity Series event at Road America, settled in fourth place while Harrison Burton finished in the top five.

Harvick, Herbst, Cindric, Gragson and Haley finished in the top 10.

Allgaier finished 12th, Jeb Burton came home in 14th, Kaz Grala settled in 18th in front of Brandon Jones and Snider ended up in 23rd behind Ryan Sieg. Ty Gibbs, following his late transmission issue, ended up 33rd.

There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 11 laps.

With an eighth-place run, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 89 points over AJ Allmendinger as third-place Daniel Hemric trails by 105 points.

Results.

1. Kyle Busch, five laps led

2. Daniel Hemric, three laps led

3. Michael Annett

4. AJ Allmendinger, 12 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

5. Harrison Burton

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Riley Herbst

8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led

9. Noah Gragson, four laps led

10. Justin Haley

11. Brandon Brown

12. Justin Allgaier, five laps led

13. Andy Lally

14. Jeb Burton

15. Tommy Joe Martins

16. Preston Pardus

17. Josh Williams

18. Kaz Grala

19. Brandon Jones, four laps led

20. Timmy Hill

21. Alex Labbe

22. Ryan Sieg

23. Myatt Snider

24. Cody Ware

25. Kris Wright

26. Stephen Leicht

27. Landon Cassill

28. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

29. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

30. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

32. Natalie Decker – OUT, Accident

33. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Transmission, two laps led

34. Jade Buford – OUT, Suspension

35. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

36. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event will occur on Saturday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Toyota Racing – NXS Road America Post-Race Report – 07.03.21

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Official Release
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The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

KYLE BUSCH SCORES 101st XFINITY SERIES WIN
Busch earns 200th Toyota victory with his win.

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (July 3, 2021) – Kyle Busch led Toyota on Saturday at Road America winning his 101st Xfinity Series race followed closely by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Hemric in second. With the win Busch earned his 200th victory with Toyota. He has 55 Cup wins, 90 Xfinity Series victories and 55 Truck Series wins with Toyota.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Road America
Race 17 of 33 – 182.160 miles, 45 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, DANIEL HEMRIC
3rd, Michael Annett*
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, HARRISON BURTON
13th, ANDY LALLY
19th, BRANDON JONES
20th, TIMMY HILL
25th, KRIS WRIGHT
26th, STEPHEN LEICHT
30th, RYAN ELLIS
33rd, TY GIBBS
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 M&M’s Ice Cream Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

After two off track excursions, how did you get it done on that last run?

“Obviously tires, you know, that was the saving grace for us. We had tires left over and the 16 (AJ Allmendinger) didn’t and when we came and put tires on, I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to get through that many cars. But man, not sure what happend on those last couple of restarts, just a malay on the start going down the straightaways and I really couldn’t see what was happening. There was a wreck between two and three and we were fortunate to be on the right side in order to get through that stuff without too much damage to our race car. Can’t say enugh about M&M’s Ice Cream, go get some cookie sandwiches to celebrate 4th of July this weekend. It’ll cool you right off. Thanks to M&M’s of course, a lot of people to thank. Mark McFarland (crew chief) and the ARCA team, they came and helped me this weekend, so winning with those guys and then Chris Gayle, all the Xfinity Series shop, all those guys and girls that help prepare all these cars. This was a fifth entry, so that’s a lot. Also, this might sound weird, but Joe Nemechek and John Hunter. They’ll know why. Obviously it was really unique to have the opportunity to run this race today and prepare for tomorrow. I hate I tore up my Cup car, but I think we’ll still be fast and hopefully tomorrow will look a lot like this day.”

You said pre-race that it was going to be a challenge today and here you are in Victory Lane. Connect the dots for me.

“Well, I was right. It was a challenge. It was just a different kind of challenge. Thankfully we had that set of tires there at the end and that was kind of our saving grace. The 16 (AJ Allmendinger) and the 22 (Austin Cindric) getting the damage, the 7 (Justin Allgaier) getting damage, so it kind of fell in my lap a little bit, but we still had a fast racecar. This M&M’s Ice Cream Supra was awesome. Thanks to all of these guys. Thanks to everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, especially the Xfinity shop, Mark McFarland (crew chief), the guys here that helped me this weekend to get this car here to make it possible to run five. That’s a lot on a team, an organization. I appreciate that and Coy (Gibbs) to do that. I also want to say thanks to Joe Nemechek and John Hunter Nemechek, they helped me to be able to get some laps here and get prepped a couple of weeks ago. Just also want to say hey to Brexton (Busch, son) and Samantha (Busch, wife). I wish Brexton good luck tonight. Hopefully he can bring home a win too.”

Is there a fun factor coming to a place like this?

“When you figure it out and you win, yeah, its fun, but other than that it’s a challenge. Every time you get into the next corner, you have to be up to that next challenge, that next corner. I blew the kink again in this car and about wadded it up, but I was able to hold on to it and be able to work through the rest of the day. Everybody on pit road did good pit stops. Strategy worked our way, so it’s cool to get here in victory lane. Thanks to M&M’s, Rowdy Energy, Toyota, and we will see what we can do tomorrow.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What did you need there in the closing laps?

“Just a yellow or something to close the gap. I thought we did a pretty good job taking care of it – clean racecar, fresh tires – when we had the opportunity to take care of it throughout the race. For whatever reason, the holes didn’t quite go the way I thought they were going to go and some of them closed, and I lost too much time to Kyle (Busch) there to make it up. I gave it all I had – tongue hanging out at the last five, six, seven laps trying to get to the point where I at least had a shot at it. I’m really proud of everyone at Poppy Bank. I’m really proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for an incredible Camry, not Camry – Supra. I would like to drive a Camry one day. I say that and the fender is knocked in on this thing – makes it look like a Camry. I’ve had a ton of fun racing with these guys this year, and they hate running second. No one hates it more than I do, especially as many times as it has happened. We are doing the right things. We just have to continue to execute, and we will have our day.”

This is your ninth runner-up finish in the Xfinity Series. What’s it going to take to take that next step?

“We just have to stop handicapping ourselves whenever that final stage is. I thought we got over that with our stage two. I thought we were setting ourselves up where we weren’t at least starting from the tail and then we had the penalty with the mistiming with jumping over the wall and we got a penalty. We started the last two runs from the back and that’s the difference from being an extra row or two on the restart, the way things funneled in here. If you don’t get the pass done, it cost you a lap as crazy as that sounds and that is what happened. If I could have cleared those guys a lap or two sooner, that would have at least given me the opportunity to have a clean racetrack. We had newer tires than he did, it was just track position. I’m proud of everyone on this Poppy Bank Toyota Supra team. They’ve done an incredible job.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

A tough couple of races the last handful of races, but a top five today. What does this top five mean for you and the team moving forward?

“I mean, gosh, we’ve been fast. Really we’ve been fast enough to win the last two or three weeks and I’ll screw it up and this weekend, we were never fast enough to win and we got a better finish. Racing is like that. Some days the days you expect to win you don’t even finish and the days you expect to finish 10th, you finish fifth. I need to go to work a little bit. I think our DEX Imaging Supra could have used some work as well. I said earlier I felt like I was a top three, top four, five road course guy in the beginning of the year, and now I feel like everybody else has either gotten better or I’ve gotten worse. I don’t know, but I’ve got to go to work a little bit, but that’s part of learning. That’s what makes this series awesome, is everyone is always getting better and better and better. Just got to go to work and try to be the best I can be.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands plus our 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.

Through its Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Road America (Trio of Mustangs Finish Top-10 at Road America)

By
Official Release
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The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Henry 180
Road America | Saturday, July 3, 2021

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
6th – Kevin Harvick
7th – Riley Herbst
8th – Austin Cindric
22nd – Ryan Sieg

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 99 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang (Finished 6th) — “I was way off as far as racecraft and what I needed to do on the starts and restarts into Turn 1. I just was kind of going throughout the whole race not having a lot of help from the spotters stand just because you can’t really hear ‘em. So there was a lot of racecraft stuff that I was way off on. We got better as we went through the race. They did a good job on pit road and calling the race and probably should have finished 3rd or 4th there but I dinged it all up not getting a good restart there at the end.”

RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang (Finished 7th) — “Yeah, we were definitely better than yesterday. It was cool coming from the back. I definitely feel like we had a top-five car, it just took a little too long getting through traffic there at the end and finishing 7th. We will take it, with a couple stage points, finishing 7th place. All in all, it was a good day.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang (Finished 8th) — “You can’t win ‘em all. Our guys brought a really fast Menards Richmond Ford Mustang. Sometimes it works out for you and sometimes it doesn’t. Today was one of those days. It just wasn’t meant to be. If they gave out an award for cars passed, we would handily have that. I am not sure there is a corner on this car that doesn’t have damage. I appreciate the hard work by everybody. We had a decent points day and we will move on.”

WHEN YOU CAME TO PIT FROM THE LEAD BEFORE THE LAST RESTART AND SAW NEARLY EVERYONE ELSE PIT, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND? “It was obviously the strategy to win the race. It is how the 54 won the race. I got a good restart and put a row of guys behind me before I even got to Turn 1 and thought I was in the right spot. The 2 just went off the track and collected a bunch of cars. I had to check up and got a bunch of rear-end damage and caused a tire rub which caused the tire to go down. I had to run on an old tire the rest of the race and still drove from last to wherever we finished. Not ideal, but it could be worse.”

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES-MID-OHIO: JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY ON THE POLE

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP – WITH QUOTES
JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY ON POLE
JULY 3, 2021

LEXINGTON, OHIO (July 3, 2021) For the third consecutive race and the 14th time in his career, Josef Newgarden will lead the NTT INDYCAR Series field to the green flag powered by a Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo direct injected engine.

The two-time champion grabbed the NTT P1 Award by a mere three-thousands of a second behind the wheel of the No 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.

Teammate Will Power, No .12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet, joined Newgarden in the Firestone Fast Six. The former champion, and Indianapolis 500 winner will roll off from fourth on the grid for the 80-lap race on the 2.258-mile 13 turn natural terrain Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The remaining Team Chevy drivers qualified as follows:
11th Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax AutoGeek Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
12th Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 Rokit AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
13th Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
14th Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet
15th Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet
17th Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet
20th Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
21st Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
24th Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Colton Herta will start alongside Newgarden. Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi completed the Firestone Fast Six qualifying field.

NBC will telecast the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio live at noon ET Sunday, July 4. The 80-lap/180.6-mile race will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.

DRIVER QUOTES:

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: That was a little tighter than I wanted it to be. I about fell apart the second half of that lap. I opened the lap really well. The car has been on rails right out of the box. I am really proud of the team. Obviously thanks to this whole group here. Everyone at Team Penske has been on it! We’ve had some troubles the last couple weeks securing a win, but I can’t ask much different. They are doing everything they need to do to win these races. Excited to have another chance with a really great car. Team Chevy keeps doing a great job for us.. It’s good to have XPEL on the car. They’ve been a great partner for us the last couple of years. There is an anniversary! I didn’t know this coming into it. This is the 50th year today for Team Penske and Roger Penske scoring the first win for the organization with Mark Donohue. I was thinking of how cool it is to be in the car here racing today. Every now and then you have moments where you reflect that you are actually doing this. It’s so cool It’s a dream to drive for Roger and this entire group. So proud of everybody. Hopefully we can seal one off tomorrow—that’s what we need to do!

“I knew the third lap would be the money lap on used red tires. I opened the lap really well and then started losing time in Turn Four, all the way to the line. I was just trying to keep it together – Tim (Cindric) was telling me exactly what we needed and we got it. Really proud of everyone, the car looks good and it’s fast, and Team Chevy has done a great job so we just need to keep it together tomorrow. We need a good, clean day and I think we have the car to do that, and I know we’re capable. You have the curse of wanting to do well and get a good result when you know you’re capable as a team, but I’ve been racing long enough to see the ebbs and flows and I know that if we keep doing what we’re doing, it will come.

“There’s a lot of respect for Honda as our competitor, here at one of their home races. You want to have a good battle with someone who pushes you and they push us as hard as you can push. I’m proud to be backed by Chevrolet: every one of my INDYCAR wins has come with Chevrolet engine power so I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m at. I’m looking forward to putting them on top tomorrow.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX AUTOGEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH:
“The car feels strong. I think the Fast Six was definitely possible, I was on a good lap but the dirty air kicked in and the lap was gone. We had great track position until Bourdais came out in front of us. I had two peak laps and messed up both of them, giving up my second lap for a third one that I hoped would be faster. P11 isn’t bad but it isn’t great either. I’m not super happy but I know the car is great so hoping tomorrow is better.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 13TH:
“I thought I did. I thought it was a good lap. But somehow its 7tenths off. If it was one or two, I ciould understand it. But seven tenths I don’t know where to find it. I thought I did one of my best laps ever around here. But the lap time just didn’t come. It felt better to be honest. I am kind of at a loss for words about the lap time. It feels good to be back in the car. Everything is back to normal. I feel good both physically and mentally. It feels good to be out there again, its just frustrating to not have the speed.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:
“It was a really good lap. The Menards Chevrolet was so good. I lifted. I was on a .664 going into turn nine there. There was a white flag and then the yellow came out right in the center of it so I knew it was a moving car. That is why I knew it wasn’t somebody’s car in the middle. As you can see I moved all the way over. I guess it is the rules, but this is the second race. In Detroit I had to lift in the last corner because of Ferrucci who crashed. We were going to get in. Its just unfortunate when you have so much speed. Thanks to the team for doing such a great job. It just makes for a long weekend.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 20TH:
“I wasn’t at my best, I messed up, but the tires were really inconsistent from set to set as well. We’ve had pace all weekend but on this set everything just went away: the car wasn’t even there on Lap 3. I don’t know what’s up, we’ve had some inconsistency on certain weekends, where we don’t know what’s going wrong. It’s difficult to be starting so far back but we’ll see what we can do.”

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – JOSEF NEWGARDEN
Q. Josef Newgarden, P1, once again. Third straight this season. Last time that happened was 2015, some guy named Will Power did that in Texas, Toronto. Third consecutive pole. Your thoughts on getting it done at the end?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was tighter than I would like it to be. These guys all close the gap quite a lot. I felt we had a really good car straight out of the box this weekend. So we opened really well. And I think for us it was a matter of maintaining that, trying to not lose any speed and keep up with the track progression.
And then everyone around us, like certainly Colton, just raised their game a lot and just about knocked us off. It was going to be hard. You could see how fast these guys were. He was super quick all through qualifying. So it was going to take a really good lap. And thankfully we put it together.
That’s INDYCAR. It’s Mid-Ohio. Always tight here. So difficult. I think I’ve qualified second like three times, something that. It always comes down to being super tight in the end. Very happy to — I think the biggest thing that’s encouraging me for is we’ve had speed all weekend, the car’s felt good. It’s about maintaining that. And if we can keep our composure for the race conditions, we’ll have an opportunity to challenge again and seal one of these off. That’s what it starts with. You get one on the board and it will help. We’re still trying to make that happen for 2021.

Q. That’s pretty good. Both you guys, looks like in qualifying, looks like you’re almost water-skiing out here, the way you’re working the wheel and stuff, the tires almost looked like barely touching it. What’s it like driving a car to the limit like that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I thought it was pretty hooked up. I was more hooked up in the Fast 6 and I thought maybe it might be. Tires dropping off were an issue. I think Colton and me were matched as far as how much we use the tires two laps apiece. That made a big difference. I think if you have three laps on the reds, makes it even harder. My car felt really solid all weekend. I can speak to that. Doesn’t feel like you’re water-skiing at all. Feels like you’re riding a roller coaster on rails. They say it about this place. It’s like a roller coaster, with the undulations and just how hooked up it can be with the elevation change.
It’s a really fun ride when the car’s working well. If it’s not super comfy, it can be challenging, but for us in the 2 car, it’s been really nice with that.

Q. How much did traffic affect you all in the first couple rounds of qualifying there?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: In qualifying I was okay with it. I didn’t have any problems at all and everybody was pretty considerate.26 cars. We were talking about it, it’s on the limit here. Probably over the limit here for practice running, but in qualifying it seemed fine. Once you cut it down to 12.

Q. Josef, how much fun is for you to steal a race from the other manufacturer?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: For me, there’s a lot of respect for our competitor and Honda. They’re a tough competitor for us, which is great. You want to have a good battle. And someone that pushes you — and I feel they pushed us as hard as you can be pushed. So a lot of respect for Honda and what they do every weekend. I think for us at Chevrolet, obviously for me I’m very proud to be backed by Chevrolet. Every single one of my INDYCAR wins comes with a Chevrolet powering me in the back of my vehicle. I’m pretty comfy where I am at and hopefully we can put Chevy on top tomorrow.

Q. Talking about strategy, how much do you think strategy will be a factor tomorrow?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Depends on the yellows. Outside of yellows, if it’s a green race it looks pretty straightforward.
Q. Which has happened a lot here?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It has. But as soon as you try and predict the race, it does the opposite sometimes. So it could be all green or we could have five yellows. You just don’t know. I think yellows are always what flip the script on these things. If it’s green all day, it looks pretty straightforward.

Q. Josef, you guys, you’ve done everything but win this year, a race. Is there pressure there? How would you describe — I think y’all won five of the last six, seven races last year. Quite a roll. But what is it like within the team about getting one on the board you talked about a minute ago?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Pretty normal, to be honest with you. Doesn’t feel any different. I don’t feel any different. I don’t think the team really feels any different. Kind of been doing the same thing, feeling really good. And joking, a lot of joking in the engineering meeting as normal. So, yeah, it’s pretty much status quo on our side of the world. Definitely been unfortunate. It’s probably the word I’d use. Just unfortunate we’ve not been able to have things go our way. Some of that’s probably a little self-inflicted. Obviously we try and clean that up in a year when we have a couple of mistakes. But some of it has just purely been unfortunate. So outside of that, pretty jokey. Pretty committed, and ready to go tomorrow. So same deal as always.

Q. You have race control, drivers?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No, I think it’s — obviously race control doesn’t want to dictate races either. Puts them in a tough spot. I think they hate having to throw a yellow and it flips the world upside down for the top 5 who have worked hard to get there and deserve to stay there. So they don’t want to influence the race.
But to Colton’s point, you can only do so much in the rule sets that we have because it’s a closed pit situation. If there’s a car in harm’s way, they’ve got to throw the yellow immediately. If they can’t, I think they try and do everything possible to give the team an opportunity to pit, which is about the best you can do with this set of rules. If we want to make it even better, you know, where we mitigate the risk of your race being ruined by a yellow, then we’ve got to change the rules. We’ve got to figure out how to do that safely. That’s another conversation. But as far as how we approach the day, to Colton’s point, you can only do so much. There’s some areas where you can lower your risk of getting caught by the yellow, but then there’s some areas where you just can’t do anything about it. You’ve got to focus on your strategy that you have kind of gone with. If you get bit by it, it sucks to get bit by it. That’s the nature of this style of racing at the moment.

Q. So you have been bit by late yellows two consecutive races. Tell me, what do you say and feel when it happens, and what happens tomorrow if it’s a third time?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would say the last two races weren’t necessarily — I wouldn’t put those down to yellows. You look at last year, last year was very unfortunate for yellows. I think we gotten taken out of four events, four wins because of yellows. I wouldn’t say that was the case these last two races. Things just didn’t pan out. Detroit didn’t pan out because of our strategy the way the yellow fell. And Road America, we just couldn’t predict what was going to happen there. It’s just an unfortunate failure. But if you looked at last year, yellows played a big role in our races specifically. And those are the tough ones.
When they purely take you out of the top 10, when you’re up there on merit, it’s a hard pill to swallow. But like I said, it’s the rule sets we live in right now. It’s the style of racing we’re used to. We know the drill. If we want to make that better, we have to change the rules one day.

Q. Lastly, are there guys out there that you guys are sick of it, are there guys out there, that are just, like, targets, get your act together, stop throwing yellows?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s up and down, up and down the grid. So, yeah, I don’t think you can point the finger at one person. No one’s trying to do anything on purpose.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

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